Lightning Yet to Strike in Baghdad

Iraq's Operation Lightning, designed to crush insurgents in Baghdad with a 40,000-strong force, may be a dud.

Described as the biggest Iraqi-led security crackdown since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi troops and police were to fan out across the capital, set up hundreds of checkpoints, and raid houses for weapons and rebels.

As soon as Lightning was announced in a blaze of publicity last week, there were doubts about whether 40,000 Iraqis could actually be mobilized. Now media personnel who have toured Baghdad said they did not see a significant number of personnel or checkpoints.